22 October, 2016

Indian-born artist and researcher Budhaditya Chattopadhyay gave a talk on his artistic practice with sound, and perform three of his recent pieces in a live concert

The talk will focus on a latent shift in attitude towards sound art in the contemporary times emphasizing ‘situations’ over ‘objects’. Central to this talk is the question: Can ‘sound’ be ‘exhibited’ as an artistic object within the spatial constraints of a gallery or a museum? Is not that a fallacy given the nature and characteristic of sound predominantly emerging as an ephemeral and immaterial phenomenon? To Chattopadhyay, this is the question that problematizes the positioning of sound art in the contemporary field of artistic and curatorial practices, demanding a new set of theoretical approaches and methodologies. In addressing the fundamental question from a conceptual leaning, in this talk the artist will examine sound’s specific subjective inclination as artistic experience beyond the material object-hood imposed on it.

The talk intends to contextualize a fluid and nomadic world of sound in a predominantly post-digital and post-global world currently in disarray. To the ears of a wandering listener traversing this milieu, such a world of sound may open hidden doors and obscure entrances to various personified and fertile auditory situations that encourage multiplicity and inclusiveness disrupting the immediate meaning of sound.

About the author:

Budhaditya Chattopadhyay is an Indian-born media artist, researcher, and writer, currently living and working in Europe. Chattopadhyay’s work questions the materiality, site-specificity and object-hood of sound, and addresses the aspects of contingency, contemplation, mindfulness and transcendence inherent in listening. Chattopadhyay has received several fellowships, residencies and international awards. Appearing in numerous exhibitions, concerts, conferences and festivals, Chattopadhyay’s sound and video works have been exhibited, performed or presented among others in Transmediale, CTM, Errant Bodies (Berlin), TodaysArt Festival (The Hague), Sonorities Festival (Belfast), Overgaden Institute of Contemporary Art, CPH PIX, Nikolaj Kunsthal (Copenhagen) etc.